Trauma

Chapter 10 (Facing Death)

As I was running, I heard a scream from the distance. A scream that came from Rylie. I had no idea what happened, but I assumed Rylie was dead. As I ran through the woods, my face was hit and scratched from tow-away branches. The dark sky and the bright stars traveled fast through the wholes of no branches.

I stopped for a break. My chest was rapidly moving in and out, and up and down. I came across this valley with the greenest grass, and about one tree. Trees surrounded the valley. The sky was dark, but the stars were bright. The moon shone down on the valley making it feel magical. For the first time in a while, a smile came upon my face. But the smile died, when I heard a branch break behind me.

"Your friend is dead." A deep voice said.

"What is the purpose of this?"

"That's irrelevant." He replied back.

"Tell me now!" I yelled, with a tear ready to overflow out of my eye.

"When I was a boy, I was hurt. By you. Or by people you know well." He inhaled and exhaled. "Your father called me fat and to kill myself. That's what happened to Travis."

I gasped. "You mother-"

"I tried out for the football team. But Mackenzie's mother told me, I wasn't athletic, and that I should hang myself. That's what happened to Mackenzie."

I put my hand over my mouth. "Why?!"

"I was gonna kill Brandon, but you pathetic idiot did it yourself. And then Rylie. Poor Rylie. Her father told me I should slit my neck for no absolute reason. And that my guy, is what happened to poor Rylie."

My heart dropped. "Drop the weapon. Drop the goddamn knife!"

The knife fell out of the man's hand and he began to cry.

"I couldn't help it." He whimpered. "I was hurt."

I slowly walked over to him. "It's okay. I understand you're hurt, but that's no excuse to kill." He continued to cry as I got closer to him. We came face to face and my stomach began to hurt. I placed my hand on his mask and started to lift it. He raised his other hand and sliced my arm with another knife. I screamed and fell back. The man ran away with an evil crying laughter.

    I yelped for pain as I used my other hand to put pressure on the wound. I exerted all my strength to push myself up without using my hands. The moon began to fall and the sky started to turn. I ran and ran for what seemed like hours. And for once, being alone was frightening. I couldn't go back to the comfort of my home. I'm a murderer. They would question me. I would fall under pressure. As I ran, I thought about who that could be, under the mask. Who and why? I had multiple questions, but I continued to run for the fear of him showing up again.

~

    I stopped running when I found this town and the sun had fully risen. I was out of breath and ready to fall to the ground. I entered the gas station closest to me.

    "Ma'am, please let me have something." I'll do anything for anything."

    The woman looked confused. "Hey, you look awfully familiar."

    I looked around and saw Travis, Mackenzie, Brandon, Rylie, and my photos on the wall.

    "Sorry." I ran to the fridges and grabbed multiple drinks and snacks and ran. She yelled for me and chased after me. I had no idea where, or how far I was from home. But they must be incredibly desperate to find us if they're putting signs in a small town like this. I looked behind me and kept running until I ran into somebody.